“Destroy this temple and in three days raise it up” (John 2:19)

Fr. Hernan P., S.J.
“Destroy this temple and in three days raise it up”
(John 2:19)
We’re almost in the middle of Lent. A few weeks ago, we received
the ashes and in a couple of weeks we will receive palm branches
that will usher in Holy Week. In other words, we are in the
middle of the Lenten season. This season started when we
recognized that we were sinners, and when we receive palms
branches, we will recognize Jesus as the Messiah of God. But we
must notice that we prepare to celebrate Easter and not just the
Passion.
The first reading is not a simple list of rules easy to forget and
harder to fulfill. The commandments are rules that facilitate our
right relationship with God and humankind. Each of the
commandments is a reminder of the covenant between God and
his chosen people. While they talk about punishment to the third
fourth generations, it is no less true that for those who keep the
commandments there will be abundant blessings, generation
upon generation. That is, God’s mercy is infinite because his
love lasts forever.
For St. Paul, both Jews and pagans of his time were blinded by
their own expectations. The Jews expected a political warrior
and combative “Messiah” that would fight and dominate the
enemies of Israel. For them a suffering and mortal Messiah did
not make sense. Greeks meanwhile coveted the wisdom of the
philosophers. For the Gentiles it was unheard of to have as a
model a man who rejected fame, welcomed the weak and would
be put to death. But the “foolishness of God is wiser than man is
wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than human power”
(1Cor. 1:25). Through this second reading we must remember
that the wisdom and power of God were manifested in Jesus
Christ who humbled himself even to the point of death on a
cross.
John’s Gospel wants to present a Jesus who demands respect for
the Temple of His Heavenly Father. The Temple was a sign of
God’s presence here on earth. Jesus is filled with outrage at the
desecration that the merchants made the house of God. The
scripture says that Jesus made a “whip of cords” and drove out
the merchants who had appropriate the holy place. Today Pope
Francis reminds us that this gesture of Jesus and his prophetic
message is understood in the light of Easter. “According to the
Evangelist John ,this the first announcement of the death and
resurrection of Christ: his body, destroyed on the cross by the
violence of sin, will become the Resurrection, the universal
meeting between God and humankind. The risen Christ is
precisely the place of universal union -of all- between God and
us. It is through his humanity, the true temple, in which God
reveals, speaks and can be found. The true worshipers of God
are not the custodians of a material temple, nor those in power
or have religious knowledge, but those who worship God “in
spirit and truth” (Jn 4,23).
“Let us ask Jesus to dwell with us on our journey towards Easter
inspire us with the works of mercy that arise from our
commitment to our Father God our brothers and sisters. May his
example of obedience to God, His Father be our example to us of
patience, humility, justice and Holy indignation that we’re lead
to be in solidarity with the least of our brothers and sisters.